Container for the selective transportation of powdery material or mixed cargo

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a container for the selective transportation of powdery and granulate material respectively or mixed cargo, which container is provided with discharge funnels and therebelow discharge conduits located above the container bottom wall and having connecting couplings, wherein respectively two adjacent funnel rows are spaced relative to one another and covering plates corresponding in their width to the width of the funnels are pivoted to the edges of the funnel rows closest to one another, said covering plates forming flowoff surfaces for the powdery material when placed together with their free ends and covering the funnels when placed thereupon.

United States Patent lnventor Wilhelm Hermanns 462 Frankfurter Sun, Portz-Urbach, Germany Appl. No. 789,447 Filed Jan. 7, 1969 Patented Aug. 3, 1971 Priority Jan. 18, 1968 Germany P 15 56 571.6

CONTAINER FOR THESELECTIVE TRANSPORTATION or POWDERY MATERIAL OR MIXED CARGO 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

11.5. C1. 222/145, 222/462 Int. CL 1367c 11/02, 867d 5/60 Field of Search 222/129, 145, 460, 462

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 964,388 7/1910 Burrows 222/145 2,155,783 4/1939 Butcher 222/129 X 2,159,659 5/1939 Johnson et a1.. 222/129'X 3,184,108 5/1965 Grau 222/145 X Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Frederick R. Handren Attorney-Diner, Brown, Ranik & Holt ABSTRACT: There is disclosed a container for the selective transportation of powdery and granulate material respectively or mixed cargo, which container is provided with discharge funnels and therebelow discharge conduits located above the container bottom wall and having connecting couplings, wherein respectively two adjacent funnel rows are spaced relative to one another and covering plates corresponding in their width to the width of the funnels are pivoted to the edges of the funnel rows closest to one another, said covering plates fonning flowoff surfaces for the powdery material when placed together with their free ends and covering the funnels when placed thereupon.

PATENTEU we saw 596, 803

Fig.2

\ zYi Mum/or: .WlLHELM HERMANNS ATTORNEYS CONTAINER FOR THE SELECTIVE TRANSPORTATION OF POWDERY MATERIAL OR MIXED CARGO This invention relates to a container for the selective transportation of powdery and granulate material respectively or mixed cargo, which container has discharge funnels arranged in rows in its bottom portion and therebelow discharge conduits positioned above the container bottom wall and provided with connecting couplings.

For converting a conventional container type to the trans- 1 portation of mixed cargo, the individual upper openings of the discharge funnels must be closed with covering means. Since these covering means cannot be stored in the container during the transportation. of powdery material, it is necessary to respectively store such covering means at the individual destinations. v

This disadvantage is overcome in a further well known type of such a container in that the upper openings of all discharge funnels are covered by a grate. There is the danger when usingrows in its bottom portion wherein neither additional covering 1 means are required to be stored outside of the container, nor the discharging of the powdery material is prevented as a result of a bridging between the strips of a grate. According to the invention this is accomplished in a container of the said type in that respectively two adjacent funnel rows are spaced relative to one another and covering plates corresponding in their width to the width of the funnels are pivoted to the edges of the funnel rows directed to one another, said covering plates forming flowoff surfaces for the powdery material when placed together with their free ends and covering the funnels when placed thereupon. if such a container is to be used for the transportation of mixed cargo, the covering plates are pivoted to lie upon the two funnel rows so that they completely close the discharge funnels. In the other case, namely for the transportation of powdery or granulate material, the covering plates are placed together with their free ends before filling in the powdery material, so that they form a prism the sides of which form the flowofi' surfaces for the powdery material which is now passed on to the discharge funnels without any bridging.

in order to insure a uniform flowing off of the powdery material from all funnels of the funnel rows, the containeraccording to a further feature of the invention has a common discharge conduit for two adjacent funnel rows. 1 The foregoing and other objects and advantages will b more apparent from the following detailed description wherein: FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a container, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line "-1! of F IG. .1. The container 1 illustrated in the drawing is a simple transportation vessel which has to receive the weight of the loaded material-and which does not have to be subjected to any additional pneumatic overpressure for the discharging thereof. in its lower third portion pyramidal hoppers or discharge funnels 2 are arranged in two rows which extend over the length of the container and which are spaced relative to one another. The upper transverse edges of the individual discharge funnels are sealingly connected to one another. The discharge openings 4 of the funnels 2 are in communication with a discharge line 5 via shutoff members 3, said discharge line extending through the container in longitudinal direction and having connecting couplings 6 at its ends. For charging the container 1' with powdery material, manholes or sockets can be provided in its upper dportion for a pneumatic filling, which have been omitte in the drawing, however. For loading the container 1 with mixed cargo, the wall of a face of the container is formed as a dusttight two-wing door 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, covering plates 8 are pivoted at 9 to the adjacent longitudinal edges of the funnel rows, the width of said covering plates corresponding to the width of the upper opening of the discharge funnels. At the left-hand side of FIG. 2, the left plate 8 is illustrated in phantom in its covering position on the left funnel row. When both covering plates 8 are pivoted to lie upon the funnel rows, the entire space above the funnels is available for loading mixed cargo. Since it is a wellknown fact that containers which do not have any discharge funnels in their lower portion are not completely filled with.

mixed cargo, the space required for the provision of the discharge funnels virtually does not present any effective decrease of the loading space. As may be clearly taken from the right-hand side of FIG. 2, the sideof the covering plate 8 directed to the right-hand funnel row 2 forms a flowoff surface for the'powdery material, so that it can virtually be evacuated through the discharge funnels 5 without any rest remaining in the container.

In order to insure a uniform emptying of the container 1, a common discharge line 5 is provided for the adjacent funnel rows 2 said discharge line having connecting couplings 6 and provided intermediate both funnel rows. The shutoff members 3 of the individual discharge funnels are in communication with this common discharge line 5 via branch lines 10.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that many structural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A container for the selective transportation of powdery and granulate material respectively or mixed cargo, including discharge funnels arranged in rows in its lower portion and discharge lines therebelow located above the container bottom wall and provided with connecting couplings, wherein respectively two adjacent funnel rows are spaced relative to one another and covering plates corresponding in their width to the funnel width are pivoted to the edges of the funnel rows directed to one another, said covering plates forming flowoff surfaces for the powdery material when placed with their free ends together and covering the funnels when placed thereupon.

' 2. A container as defined in claim .1, characterized by a common discharge line for two adjacent funnel rows. 

1. A container for the selective transportation of powdery and granulate material respectively or mixed cargo, including discharge funnels arranged in rows in its lower portion and discharge lines therebelow located above the container bottom wall and provided with connecting couplings, wherein respectively two adjacent funnel rows are spaced relative to one another and covering plates corresponding in their width to the funnel width are pivoted to the edges of the funnel rows directed to one another, said covering plates forming flowoff surfaces for the powdery material when placed with their free ends together and covering the funnels when placed thereupon.
 2. A container as defined in claim 1, characterized by a common discharge line for two adjacent funnel rows. 